Hold fast, thou my child
This world with fearsome waves,
And thund'ring stormclouds dread
Would feed you to a churning sea,
Lost amongst the dead.
Or toss you up,
To cast you down,
That injury more fierce,
Might befall your winsome face,
And seek thy soul to pierce.
Aye, the danger and the dread,
True, no phantasms be
They've sapped the strength
And swallowed whole
Far mightier men than thee.
When lightning strikes and tempest wails
And all seems certain lost,
Hold fast my child,
Hold tight my child,
No matter what the cost.
Spurn thy flesh,
Embrace all pain,
Weave body through web of net.
Leviathan's maw is not thy home
You've not been conquered yet.
Yet when all,
You have done,
That's in thy pow'r to do,
And Death draws nigh to claim it's prize
Thund'ring shouts of doom
Take heart my child,
Rejoice my child!
Your victr'y is assured!
For long ago,
On storm toss'd sea,
Tar'd sailors did they pray
The God of gods and Lord of lords
To save them 'til the day.
And though this act,
Had oft been seen
Upon the wine dark sea,
This night, O blessêd night,
Rose the God from Galillee.
Still fell the wind,
Still fell the waves
Still fell the hearts of those He then chastised.
For in their fear, like us, forgot’n
Truth that still hearts must not despise.
In fear and trembling,
They did know,
Who reclined in Peter's barque,
Had set the oceans' bars and doors,
And sealed Noah in
His ark.
So when the storms of life do rage
And angry waters swirl all round
Out of the whirlwind, thou wilt hear
Hold fast, my child, my child hold fast
And trust that I AM near.
